When Grace Cacciato’s great-aunt sent her a photo of a black raspberry bush, she thought of picking berries as a kid and baking them into pies with her family. On November 9, she brought black raspberry to the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen in New York City and served it with roasted squab. The next night, at the awards gala, the Saga senior sous chef was named the winner of the 2026–27 S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy U.S. Regional Final.
Cacciato had competed in the 2022–23 U.S. Regional Final and came away feeling she hadn’t done her best. Before this year’s competition, she told Fine Dining Lovers she wanted the cooks at Saga to see that they could try something, fail at it, and come back for another shot.
She worked with chef Charlie Mitchell on her entry this time. The berries came from a childhood memory, and the buckwheat, chanterelles, and ginger recalled the dirty rice preparations at Saga. She served the squab with Swiss chard, ginger sabayon, and a Bordelaise that gave her a chance to show the judges her sauce work.
Cacciato was one of 10 finalists who cooked for E.J. Lagasse of Emeril’s, Fariyal Abdullahi of Hav & Mar, Isabel Coss of Pascual and Lutèce, Jon Yao of Kato, and Ryan Ratino of Hive Hospitality. The judges assessed each dish for technical skill, creativity, and how clearly it expressed a personal belief. At the gala, hosted by Nilou Motamed, 2024 U.S. winner Garrett Brower of Bresca cooked dinner with his mentor, former Canlis executive chef Aisha Ibrahim.
